Saturday, July 9th

Great Barrington, MA (1525.1 mi) to Upper Goose Pond Cabin (1552.8)

Hiking Miles: 27.7

Total Ascent: 5,826.3 ft

Total Descent: 4,983.6 ft

Total Grade: 391.1 ft/mi

Steps: 65,197

Gator/Sunrise: Today was one of the most, if not most, epic days on trail. Simply implementing just one change to my routine ultimately became a game changer for increasing my hiking pace. Despite Croc and I getting a late start with heavy packs (remember we resupplied), walking an extra mile after missing the trail head, and enduring some grueling uphill climbs, we managed to log 27+ miles before reaching our destination by 7:30 pm.

What’s that one little change? Listen for yourself. Throughout the first 80 days on trail, I have been taking on each each climb, descent, rock, root, divot, fallen tree, swamp, and a wide spectrum of random thoughts that streamed through my mind. But starting on Day 81, I plugged my earphones in for the first time and incorporated music i into my routine. It instantly made an incredible impact to my outlook….and my hiking pace!

I chose “The Biggest Hits of the 70’s” (my impressionable years for music) and the first song to blast into my head could not have been a better one (DANCING QUEEN by ABBA). It literally felt like my body was injected with an insane level of adrenaline. Press “Play” to listen along as you read the blog! And then make sure you pause it whenever you click on our daily video, or whenever you heard enough! (-: Each day moving forward, you can listen to (or skip) a song (songs are in order as they were on the playlist) that was a big part of this journey. Enjoy!

ABBA – Dancing Queen

Our shuttle driver (Joe) picked us up at 8:30 am. He logged our trail names, our overall thru-hike starting location and start date in a small notepad, a process he followed for every hiker he shuttled. Joe was very sociable, and he charged a reasonable rate. He dropped us off at a parking lot (for safety) not far from the trailhead. However Croc and I were having one of our random conversations and somehow passed the trailhead without realizing it until at least one-half mile later. Hence we “truly” got a late start. If we had any chance of reaching the Upper Goose Pond Cabin (our planned destination) by day’s end and pancakes the following morning, we had some serious hiking to do!

About a quarter mile in, we stopped at a tree sign that said “Take One.” There were roughly 10 hand carved wooden trekking poles for hikers to take (free of charge or you could Venmo a donation). They looked like bengal tiger stripes, very well crafted, and we decided to each take one. thinking it was worth carrying the extra weight. However, after hiking another mile or so, we felt it was becoming very inconvenient to carry them, especially with handling our own trekking poles. So sadly, we left them against a pole that we passed at a street crossing.

Attached to the trekking poles was a tag that explained their history. An 87 year old gentleman name Harry Sano, who lived in Great Barrington, handmade each pole extra long (about six feet) so that hikers could custom cut them down to size to match their need. I recall thinking how special it would be to have one to keep with other momento’s from our hike. Well, this wish/thought materialized almost two years later – see special update at the end of this page.

The time of day was passing quickly, yet it felt like we were moving slowly. We stopped for lunch at a rock during a steep ascent; we were 8 miles into our hike at 1 pm, which meant there was another 20 miles of hiking before we reached our planned destination. At 2.0 mph, that put our ETA at 11 pm. Yikes!

We (mostly me) needed a jump start to achieve our day’s goal, which quite frankly wasn’t looking too promising. The uphill terrain at times was tough, slowing our pace a bit so we needed a game changer. That’s when Croc strongly suggested I start using my ear buds to listen to music. He helped me with downloading Spotify. Of the many song track choices available, I decided to start with 70’s Hits. Why not? Then to both our surprise, that sparked the ultimate jump start I needed. What a difference it made when Dancing Queen by ABBA was piped into my ears. My pace immediately picked up, almost doubled, and it didn’t matter if I was climbing uphill or cruising along a straight path. With my ear buds securely in place, I caught myself lip sinking songs and at times skipping to the beat. It was so electrifying listening to classics from my teenage years, and wondering which tune would be next.

During the afternoon, we had to stop at a welcoming snack shack at a road crossing, and we refueled with Powerades (sooooo good!). It was an honor system pay method, likely collected at the end of each day. However, by the time we got there, all of the ice cream was gone! Total downer, however the Powerades (I drank three I think), was all I needed! Since our lunch stop, we had literally worked up a sweat. And by having a refreshment stop, and an entire cycle of 70’s hits to include some of my favorite bands (Eagles, Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, etc.) was very inspiring.

We reached our destination in a remarkable 6.5 hours (a consistent 3 mph pace) in time to claim the last 2 bunks in the Upper Goose Pond Cabin for the evening.

We cooked dinner at a picnic table behind the cabin, and were joined by Chompers, Dijeridoo, and a few other newcomers that we hadn’t met previously. Dijeridoo made a point once again to tell everyone that he took “8 zero’s” in New York (old news) and that he was feeling quite sick (starting to become a recurring theme). Croc and I looked at each other in wonder as to why Dijeridoo would even be sitting with everyone at the table if he was so sick. After finishing our ramen meal and cleaning up our cookware, we called it a night and went to bed. We both had upper bunks with windows on either side of exit door on the second floor that lead out to the stairway at the front of the cabin. In all, it was such an amazing day.

Croc: As Gator noted, we not only got a late start today but also overshot the trail, the exact opposite of what we wanted on a 27-mile day. We both immediately started calculating when we’d arrive at the Upper Goose Pond Cabin, especially since this would be one of our longest days, and we effectively started past 9:00 AM. On longer days, Gator usually got up at 3:00 or 4:00 AM. Regardless, we chugged along determined to get as far as possible and would pivot if needed.

A funny side note about the awesome handmade walking sticks: we weren’t the only ones who thought of grabbing them as cool mementos and then decide to abandon them. Over the next mile we must have passed at least 10 of the sticks left leaning against trees or on the ground.

As we hiked, we clearly had a slower than expected pace, typical after a relaxing night at a hotel and resupply. It’s tough to get into a groove after sleeping in a comfy bed and not wanting to leave town. By a little after noon, we were losing hope of making it to the cabin for the pancake breakfast, with another 20 miles to go. We briefly considered doing fewer miles, even if it meant skipping breakfast, or sneaking in late at night to hopefully claim some pancakes in the morning. We decided to pull out all our tricks to speed up our pace, which meant not talking, putting in our headphones, and blasting some music to get us going. Somehow, Gator went 81 days without playing music, which is absolutely insane to me. It’s like going on a long car ride without a radio. Did he actually listen to nature, the wind, or something? I needed music by day two and even told Gator (Pivot at the time), “Hey, I’m going to listen to music to pump myself up, so I won’t be talking for a few hours,” which was probably exactly what he wanted (lol). As soon as Gator turned on his 70s music, he was GONE. I had never seen him move that fast, and I struggled to catch up. If you’ve never listened to music while running, hiking, or doing any sort of exercise or chore, try it out! Almost every music therapist would strongly recommend using music in your everyday life, whether to pump you up for exercise, get you in the mood for working or studying, or even calm you down after a stressful day or conversation.

Speaking of music, I mentioned in a previous blog that I would get more into the music I listened to on the trail. Overall, I listened to almost every genre (Rock, Alternative, Instrumental, Pop, Country, etc.) from almost every era (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s). However, I had a few go-to playlists for the trail depending on my mood:

1. Soundtrack to Maxy’s Life (created by Christina) featuring cat-based songs like “Little Lion Man,” “The Kittyman” (cat version of Sea Shanty), “Tuxedo Way,” and “Business Man.”
2. Soundtrack to Josie’s Life (created by Christina) featuring butt/chunky-based songs like “Chunky,” “Bootylicious,” “Smack That,” and a few banjo/Alabama songs like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “The Banjo Line” as a shout-out to her original name, “Bama Jo.”
3. Soundtrack to Layla’s Life (created by Christina) featuring “Killer Queen” and “Death of a Bachelor.”

There were also some other great custom-made playlists created for me while on the trail. My friend Riley Bauer made me a very eclectic 100-song playlist, and Ciana (Christina’s sister) made a killer pump-up party playlist. Lastly, when I was missing home, I had a custom playlist of all the songs Christina had recommended or shared with me over the past five years, as well as a wedding playlist we started before I left for the trail.

Now, back to hiking (this is going to be a long blog). We stopped by a trail stand towards the end of the hike, and although Gator was happy to find a few Powerades to drink (is that a betrayal to Gatorade?), I was rather annoyed (no surprise) since all the ice cream sandwiches were gone. I had a hunch that someone likely took the full box of ice cream for themselves and carried on with their hike, which later turned out to be true when I overheard a hiker at the cabin mention they “took several ice cream sandwiches.” Leave some for the rest of us… Regardless, it was a great pick-me-up to finish off the hike, and we were amazingly making great time! We ended the day with Gator sharing some of his childhood stories, like playing baseball against his rival neighborhood team and stories about staying over at his friend’s house. We eventually strolled into camp and were shocked to see that the cabin was a legit cabin, better than most of the hostels we stayed at. We were lucky too because the mosquitoes were out in numbers tonight, and I barely made it through dinner (outside) with them attacking us. We did have the “pleasure” of hearing about Dijeridoo’s escapades once again as he ate an avocado for dinner and directed all attention to himself. However, I did learn that he was a paramedic, which is a very tough, giving but under appreciated profession.

Eventually, we called it a night and got lucky AGAIN, getting the last two bunks right by the second-floor outside door. I think everyone thought it was the worst location being by the loud, swinging door, but it was also right by a set of windows, which gave us a cool breeze throughout the night in the musty, hot cabin. I think everyone was a little jealous the next morning.

UPDATE:

Fast forwarding to Father’s Day 2 years later (June 16, 2024), I was reunited with a pair of the hand carved Tiger poles by Harry Sano. I was gifted these two poles by Tarryn and Stevie (Croc) during a short hike in New Jersey on Father’s Day. We were in New Jersey to celebrate Christina’s 30th surprise BD party when we decided to drive to High Point to hike up the blue blaze we skipped while on trail due to cold temps. With Stevie’s navigation help, Tarryn, David and the pups made a day trip to Great Barrington to hopefully find these poles. And would you know, they were still there in the exact same place along the trail. Unbelievable!